Volleyball team beats Maple Lake for first win

This article submitted by Jenni Mayer on 10/04/00.
The Bulldogs' volleyball team earned their first victory of the season last week in a nonconference match against Maple Lake on Tuesday, Sept. 26.

The Bulldogs, who had three matches in all last week, lost their other nonconference match to Belgrade-Brooten-Elrosa as well as a conference match to Sauk Centre.

The Bulldogs played BBE at home on Monday, Sept. 25. The Dogs played a good match but were defeated in three games.

In the first game, the Bulldogs went out on the floor fired up and talking. They dug the ball and hit well. Their serving was pretty good but they were defeated 15-10.

Heidi Jansen spikes between two defenders at a recent volleyball mathch. Jansen was perfect in 10 spike attempts and had five kills in the team's noncenference victory against Maple Lake last week.

The second game wasn't nearly as good. The girls took their loss hard and got frustrated. They made a lot of mental errors in digging the ball. Their serves were off and they missed a lot of critical ones. They lost the second game 15-6.

The Bulldogs came back in the third game. They played well after getting their heads straight again. They made fewer errors and had some very good plays. The girls missed five critical serves in the last game, giving sideouts to BBE. The Jaguars took those balls and made them into good plays. The Bulldogs lost the third game 15-12.

The Bulldogs started a four-game homestand against St. Cloud Cathedral on Tuesday, Oct. 3. Those results will be in next week's paper.

In the first game, the Bulldogs were on fire. They played every ball as if it was the last point and hit it hard. They had awesome communication on the court and played as a team. The Bulldogs got excited on their good plays and didn't get down on their not-so-good plays. They beat Maple Lake 15-3.

The second game was not as good for the Bulldogs but they still played well. They came on the court excited from their win and maybe they were a little overconfident. They played with Maple Lake but didn't get the side outs they needed. Maple Lake defeated the Bulldogs 15-11.

The Bulldogs knew what they had to do in the third game. They were all looking for a win so they played from their hearts. They dug and hit the ball with confidence and played an awesome game as a team. They won the third game 15-3.

The fourth game was great for the Bulldogs. They were all hungry for a win and they took it. They got on the court fired up and ready to win. They talked to each other and made some awesome plays. They took the last game 15-1.

It was a sweep for the Bulldogs, as the varsity, junior varsity, and ninth grade teams won their matches.

Sauk Centre 3
Paynesville 0
The Bulldogs lost to conference-leading Sauk Centre on Thursday, September 28, in three games.

In the first game, the Bulldogs made some mistakes. They had trouble hitting the ball but made up for it with their passes. The Bulldogs had the best passes of the season against the Mainstreeters. They lost the first game 15-5.

In the second game, the Bulldogs were ready to play and fired up. They dug the ball well and passed it to the setter, but had some trouble putting a kill to the floor. The Mainstreeters dug the Bulldogs' hits and hit right back at them. The girls tried hard for every point and really wanted to win, but Sauk Centre took the second game 15-9.

The third game was the deciding game of the night. If the Bulldogs won they would play more, but, if they lost, they'd go home. The girls didn't want to go home but they were defeated 15-4. The Bulldogs missed some serves but still passed great. Their hitting was off which caused the Bulldogs to lose control of the ball. They played a good third game but not good enough for the win.